How to Train Your Dragon Back on Top

How to Train Your Dragon surprised me last weekend by being a close contender and one of the top three films at the box office. I love the film, so I was happy to hear it. And now this.

Box Office Winner: How to Train Your Dragon

How to Train Your Dragon faced some heavy competition this weekend, especially from Kick-Ass, though that was made for a slightly different audience, and, in its fourth frame, found a way to come out on top. Just in case you were wondering what "way" that could be, the film does owe some credit to the higher cost of 3D tickets. Thanks to the extra dimension, Dragon took in another $20 million; bringing it's total domestic tally to $158.6 million. Now, you may remember DreamWorks Animation's stock dipping after the film's less than expected opening weekend, but it is now starting to come back up thanks to some serious legs. And don't forget about it's 3D pull!

"Certainly, in 3D we have a clear playing field until Shrek Forever After (opens on May 21)," she added. "And of course, we have the Imax partnership that has been playing and over-indexing on the movie, as well."

Kick-Ass took advantage of its R-rating and comicbook roots to open to $19.8 million. The film obviously played best with males, most of whom were under the age of 25.

All in all, the weekend box office was up a nice 11% over the same frame last year.